Delegates from 12 Arab nations have gathered in Tunis, the capital city of Tunisia, to discuss ways of preventing the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS.
The four-day conference, organised by the International Federation of Family Planning (IFFP), not only aims to encourage open discussion on STIs, and raise awareness of prevention and treatment.
According to Majdi Khaled of the IFFP, discussing issues such as AIDS is often considered taboo. "Many HIV-positive people in Arab countries still refuse to admit their HIV status and continue to have unprotected sex as a result," he told Agence France-Presse.
Poverty, drugs and war were also said to be contributing to the spread of HIV in various Arab countries.
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